


scream it from the top of your lungs

by MissSugarPlum



Series: you're just a line in a song [10]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: (in the form of brief mentions of canon-compliant child abuse), (with a tiny bit of angst thrown in for good measure), M/M, Not beta-read, Tumblr Prompt, but close to it, caitlin is So Done with Everything, caitlin pov, not quite crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-09 00:39:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5519117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissSugarPlum/pseuds/MissSugarPlum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The whole thing would be hilarious if it wasn't so frustrating.</p><p>-x-</p><p>(Featuring badass-but-concerned Len, annoyed-but-apologetic Barry, and poor Caitlin, who just Does Not want to know)</p>
            </blockquote>





	scream it from the top of your lungs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Crimson1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crimson1/gifts).



> This anon prompted: _“You fainted…straight into my arms. You know, if you wanted my attention you didn’t have to go to such extremes.”_ And, well. I had way too much fun with this one.
> 
> For Crimson, who wanted it posted here ASAP (though it took me forever to find a title that I liked enough). I'm glad you liked it, darling! <3
> 
> (Part of the summary shamelessly stolen from [this girl](http://weekend-conspiracy-theorist.tumblr.com)'s hilarious [tags](http://lisasneeze.tumblr.com/post/135738088430/coldflash-38), because I thought they summed up the whole thing quite nicely)
> 
> (Title from Fall Out Boy's Alone Together)

The whole thing would be hilarious if it wasn’t so frustrating.

 

“This is completely unnecessary,” Snart huffs out for the fourth time, lounging back on the bed with a thunderous scowl, and Caitlin rolls her eyes as she shines her penlight into his.

 

“Just shut up and let me do my job, will you? I need to make sure you don’t have a concussion.”

 

“I don’t, trust me.” Snart’s mouth is set in the thinnest of lines, just _daring_ Caitlin to argue.

 

She thinks about arguing anyway, then thinks of when his sister was sitting here, eyes vulnerable as she revealed the scar on her shoulder and more of her history then Caitlin thinks she ever planned on sharing.

 

She decides against it.

 

“Still,” she says briskly, fingers moving in familiar motions as she goes to take his pulse, “you sustained a nasty bump to the head, which only _just_ stopped bleeding five minutes ago, not to mention the two cracked ribs and what is _probably_ a sprained elbow. Concussion or not, you’re still going to need to take it easy for a little while, until your ribs heal at the very least.”

 

Snart frowns unpleasantly, but Caitlin ignores it as she finishes counting out the seconds in her head. She moves away from him finally, satisfied with his heart rate, and turns to check on her second patient in the other bed.

 

Barry groans groggily, opening his eyes a fraction just as she reaches him. “Cait?” he murmurs weakly. She brushes his hair from his forehead softly and he hums appreciatively, closing his eyes again.

 

“How’re you feeling?” She spreads her fingers across his wrist, determines that the hummingbird-fast flit of his pulse fits within what she likes to call the “Barry Allen Normal” of parameters in her head.

 

“Like I got hit by a tidal wave and then drowned in it,” Barry answers, eyes screwing shut tightly at the reminder. “What happened?”

 

“You fainted,” Snart drawls from the other bed before Caitlin can say anything, infuriating smirk present on his face and in his voice. “Straight into my arms.”

 

“ _What_?” Barry says, aghast, eyes flickering rapidly between him and Caitlin. “Shut up, I did not.”

 

“Oh, but you did,” Snart says, gleeful with a hint of something else in his expression that Caitlin can’t quite make out. “At top speed, might I add.”

 

“Shit.” Barry takes in Snart’s injuries, eyes roving over the mottled bruises and heavy bandages. “How bad?” he asks Caitlin, brow furrowed unhappily.

 

“Two cracked ribs, what looks like a sprained elbow, some friction burn, and a possible concussion,” Caitlin recites. “Oh, and a dislocated shoulder, but we popped that back in right after he got you here.” She shudders at the memory, the pop and crack as she guided the joint back into place, the faintly twisted expression of pain the only sign of discomfort on Snart’s face.

 

(She tries to tell herself not to feel pity for him, because it’s obvious he’s had to do this before, probably more than once—plus, he’s Captain Cold, he kidnapped and strapped a bomb to her, he threatened Cisco with his brother’s life, he’s Barry’s _nemesis_ —but it’s a losing battle.

 

She never could stand to see anyone in pain.)

 

“Fuck.” Barry presses his hands to his face, slides them up to pull through his hair. “Fuck.” He pauses, eyes narrowing as the rest of Caitlin’s words register. “Wait, did you say he brought me here?”

 

“Carried you and everything,” Snart says, a smug undertone to his words. Caitlin kind of wants to hit him, even though she knows he’s already been beaten up enough today. “The press had a field day.”

 

Barry groans, letting his head fall back against the bed with a soft thump. “So much for Iris not finding out,” he mutters to himself, and Snart’s smirk widens.

 

“Don’t want your little girlfriend to worry?” he asks mockingly, and Barry’s eyes narrow.

 

“She’s not my girlfriend, she’s my best friend.”

 

There’s a tiny snort of disbelief, and Caitlin only realizes it had come from her when both Barry and Snart turn to look at her incredulously.

 

She feels herself turn beet red. “I’m just gonna go see if… I’ll be right back,” she mumbles, and turns to flee before either of them can say anything.

 

“You know,” she hears Snart say, just as she’s exiting the cortex, “if you wanted my attention so badly, you didn’t have to go to such extremes.”

 

“Oh, really?” Barry snarks right back, but whatever else he says is cut off as Caitlin quickly removes herself from hearing distance.

 

-x-

 

Thirty minutes later, she really can’t justify to herself staying away any longer and figures she should save Barry from suffering Snart’s company alone.

 

The sight she’s greeted with as she rounds the corner is _not_ what she expects.

 

Barry’s bed is empty, and after half a second of panic she looks further into the room, eyes popping out of her head when she sees him on _Snart’s_ bed, straddling the other man’s hips, hands cradling his head and tongue down his throat.

 

“Oh my god!”

 

Barry springs up and away from Snart faster than her eyes can track. “Caitlin!” He wipes the back of his hand over his mouth. “I, uh… I can explain?”

 

Caitlin stares for a moment longer, at the disheveled mess of Barry’s hair, the grin he can’t quite contain, the glimmer of something _happy_ in his eye, and when she turns her eyes to Snart, she sees the same thing mirrored on his face. “Nope, no need, I don’t want to know,” she says hurriedly, backing out of the room again. “Keep… doing what you’re doing, or whatever. I’ll be… not here.”

 

She hears Snart chuckling as she leaves again, and Barry admonishing him before he’s abruptly cut off, and she groans to herself as she tries not to think about what’s happening in there.

 

She pulls out her phone, bringing up Cisco’s number and pressing the ‘send’ button. He’s not going to believe this.

 

**Author's Note:**

> (I never actually got around to explaining it in the fic, but I like to think that Barry was patrolling the city and just got caught up and never got around to eating, hence the fainting. Len just happened to be in his way. :3)
> 
> Originally on [tumblr](http://that-pumpkinspicewhitegirl.tumblr.com/post/135737219918/coldflash-38).


End file.
